(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition having excellent practical physical properties and antistatic properties.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
In general, general-purpose resins such as styrene resins and acrylic resins have been widely used in electric, electronic parts because of their excellent electrical insulation properties.
In addition, general-purpose resins have been widely used in fields where electrical insulation properties are not always needed because they show well-balanced properties such as mechanical strength, heat resistance and molding and processing properties. When these general-purpose resins are employed in those fields where electrical insulation properties are not always needed, various problems arise because they have such good electrical insulation properties. For instance, they are easily charged due to friction and contact. As a result they absorb dust which impairs the appearance thereof causes dielectric breakdown of integrated circuits (IC) or the like in which such resins are employed. In addition, there is often observed the so-called drop-out phenomenon which is due to charging of a container made of such a resin for a magnetic recording material. Hence the absorption of dust becomes conspicuous with the recent increase in the density of magnetic recording materials. This is a serious problem in the field.
In order to solve this problem, attempts have been made to reduce the surface intrinsic resistance by kneading a low molecular weight surfactant as an antistatic agent with the general-purpose resin, or by applying a surfactant onto the surface of the resulting molded product.
Generally, when an antistatic agent is kneaded with a styrene or acrylic resin, the antistatic effect can be maintained as long as the antistatic agent is present on the resin surface. However, since most of the antistatic agent present in the bulk of the resin is not on the surface of the resin, the antistatic effect of the resin is substantially reduced if the antistatic agent is washed with water or wiped with a cloth from the resin surface. Moreover, it is necessary to knead the antistatic agent with the resin, or apply it to the surface thereof, in relatively large amounts. This makes the surface of a molded product sticky.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Serial No. Hei 1-53721 proposes a resin composition which comprises a styrene resin, a polyethylene oxide having a specific molecular weight and a sulfonate having a specific chemical structure. This composition has already been put to practical use. However, the resin composition suffers from a problem of blushing which is observed when the composition is brought into contact with hot water over long periods of time. It has long been desired to develop a means for solving this problem in fields where the use of resin materials having resistance to hot water is required.